Marketing is not always something that you associate with the construction industry. Ten years ago, if you didn’t have a website in the construction industry, you could put your custom down to “word of mouth” – and sure, that is still the case, though most businesses now have some sort of online presence. Word of mouth is definitely a very effective way of getting new business; however, having an online presence is now more crucial than ever, as strong as your recommendations are. In a Google age, what’s the first thing people do when scouting out a new company? Google!

There are still a lot of construction companies that either don’t have a website or if they do have one, it has spelling mistakes poor imagery and fails to sell what they can do. Certainly, there are many companies out there not thinking about marketing concepts such as “target audience”, “segmentation” or “Search Engine Optimization (SEO)” – which if you think about, leaves the door wide open for companies who want to lead the way.

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The general lack of marketing expenditure in the construction industry is likely the result of the ‘would-be-nice’ items or ‘not really needed’ and simply not a high priority for most of those in the industry. As a result, marketing budgets in the construction world can be quite small. However, with technology you can make an impression with real gains and minimal expenditure matching the smallest of budgets and allowing you to back up your recommendation with slick online presence.

However, larger construction companies do keep up to date with an online presence and up-to-date marketing techniques.  These companies know how to survive: they know that by doing ongoing marketing, they are ensuring that their business will thrive and survive, no matter how large they’ve become. Their brand image is important and must be supported by a robust marketing programme.

It's unfortunate then that many of the smaller and even some midsized companies in the field seem to have very little going on in the way of quality outbound marketing, including true lead generation for their sales and business development people. They're missing out.